Baseball

When you were a boy in the 1960's you played sports. Football in the fall, baseball in the summer. There weren't any video games. Television was limited to three channels and the networks were ABC, CBS and NBC. Most of the time there wasn't much on TV and honestly it was more fun to play outside. At our house there was a fence that separated the yard from the barn lot. Beyond the fence and the barn lot was a large barn and feedlot for the cattle. When we started playing baseball in the yard it was a big deal to hit it over the fence. Then the goal was to hit the barn, then the barn roof and finally over the barn. The country kids would get together and play games. It was my two brothers and me, the two Nelson brothers and the three Hungerford brothers. Everyone's house had home field rules. They were all based on where we could set up bases, where the buildings, trees, fences and cornfields were located and how many players we had that day. Then for six to eight weeks in the summer we got the chance to play little league baseball. The towns each had teams. We played kids from Oneida, Altona, Rio, Victoria, Bishop Hill and Williamsfield. Several of those towns no longer have teams. Just not enough kids to put together to make up a team. In Wataga the team was sponsored by the local grocery store- Kronstedt Grocery in the heart of downtown Wataga. It sat in the middle of the block with the Knotty Pine bar to the south and the Depot Bar to the North. The baseball diamond sits to the north of downtown. At that time Wataga Grade School sat at the northwest corner of the lot. It was where I attended first through third grades. Down the third base line at the back of left field sat the town's Catholic Church. It was every player's goal to hit the church with a batted ball. I have been scanning old photographs and slides from my parents and grandparents. The picture below is one of the Wataga Little League teams from the mid to late 1960's. It is the team my younger brother David played on. He is the fifth from the right, sitting tall with his hand on his knee. 

In the picture above he is fifth from the left. Many over the years claimed the team was the Cubs. Being a Cardinal fan and seeing the team in red, well you can see where I'm headed. 

It was a great time to be a kid. Playing ball with your friends. Learning cooperation and teamwork. Finding out how to win without being a jerk and how to lose with pride in your effort and appreciation for your opponents. It was a simpler time and a better quality of life.